South Africa, Sept. 9 -- They matter. But they don't tell us everything.

New research from WPP Media, System1 and TikTok suggests we should be asking a bigger question: What did the audience actually remember?

The Creator Effectiveness Playbook found that creator ads delivered 23% more Brand Memory Lift than brand ads across the short-form advertising analysed.

Even more surprising: engagement rate showed no significant relationship with Brand Memory Lift.

Someone can love a creator's video, watch it to the end, share it with a friend - and still not remember which brand was behind it.

Nobody buys a brand they've never heard of.

WPP Media's How Humans Decide, drawn from 1.2 million purchase journeys, shows that 86% of people buy fro...